This invention pertains to a device designed to prevent injury or recurrence of carpal tunnel syndrome, particularly after a first incident.
The carpal tunnel problem is one caused primarily by repetitive motions in manual labor, and is exacerbated by the tendency of individuals to sleep in the fetal hand position, causing additional pressure and damage. The pressure on the median nerve inflames the already damaged nerve which passes through the carpal tunnel to the hand.
People suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome experience tingling, numbness and sleeping in their hands and fingers. Often they awaken with pain and numbness. They also lose strength in their hands and fingers. Surgery has been one solution to relieve this pain. With surgery, the carpal tunnel is actually enlarged, resulting in less pressure on the median nerve. Once back and performing the same work, however, people frequently experience a recurrence of the same problems.
A non-surgical solution to carpal tunnel syndrome is use of a restraint that prevents the hand from falling into the fetal position. Previous designs have been of one of two formats. One design is to put a stay in a wrist wrap. The stay is placed on the bottom of the wrist, and the cloth material holding the stay is fastened around the wrist and thumb to hold it in place. One problem with these designs is that the stay, which is placed on the bottom side of the wrist, the most sensitive part of the carpal tunnel area, may actually increase the pain and discomfort of the carpal tunnel. Compliance in the use of this product is low because it is uncomfortable to wear and is encumbering to the hand and, in fact, hurts to wear. Sometimes people choose to suffer with carpal tunnel pain rather than wear such cumbersome devices.
A second and more recent solution is to place the stay on the top of the wrist. This makes more sense because it does not encumber the hand as much as the wrist bottom device. This helps because people are allowed somewhat more freedom of hand and fingers during work. Problems with this device are not as significant as with the stay on the bottom of the wrist, but compliance is still low because the wrist is still immobilized, and the patient's hand so encumbered it is of little use, especially in normal work tasks. In summary, the use of splints to limit wrist motion has been successfully used for treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome in the past, but many of these splints are restrictive, and patients find that they are unable to perform their daily activities. As a result, patient compliance is very low.
In treating carpal tunnel, it is neither necessary nor desirable to eliminate wrist motion completely. There are two particular motions that should be minimized: first, the fetal hand drop; and second, the backflip of the hand. The second occurs much less frequently, so preventing it is not as important as preventing the fetal hand drop, especially during sleep.
In addition to preventing the two particular hand motions, namely fetal hand drop and the backflip of the hand, those must be prevented by a restraining device which is both comfortable to wear and fully adjustable to provide proper fit around the wrist, and to provide finger restraint. In addition, a proper carpal tunnel syndrome restraint must allow the patient to perform normal work tasks with a minimum of interference, must allow the patient to easily wash his or her hands without removal of the restraint, and must not cause chafing either on the wrist or finger. There is no presently available restraining device that provides all of these essential features in an economical and workable carpal tunnel restraining device.
Accordingly, the primary objective of the present invention is to provide a carpal tunnel syndrome treating device which minimizes the motions of fetal hand drop and backflip, which at the same time allows the patient to perform most ordinary daily work tasks with a minimum of interference, and which allows the patient to wash his or her hands while the device is being worn, while at the same time provides a device of maximized comfort and one which causes reduced irritation and chafing of the wrist and fingers, thus increasing the chances of patient compliance with use instructions.